In the midst of the tragedy yesterday emerged a few heros. Captain Ed blogs about a couple of them, including Professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, who gave his life yesterday so his students would be safe.

VTech is holding a press conference, which will be broadcast momentarily.

From the presser:

— Classes are cancelled for the rest of the week.

— Norris Hall will be closed for the remainder of the semester.

— The killer is: Cho Hui Seung (corrected) – 23 y/o South Korean student, enrolled as undergrad – senior year, he was an English major. Living on campus. 2 handguns found on Lee. Confirmed that those guns were used in both shootings.

— Can’t link bomb threats to shootings just yet.

— Victims found in at least four classrooms and a stairwell.

— John Marshall, secretary of public safety in Virginia (corrected) says that the campus police made the right decisions yesterday based on the info they had at the time.

April 17, 2007 — Cho Hui Seung, a resident alien of the United States, a South Korean national and a Virginia Tech senior has been identified as the gunman in the shootings that left 33 people dead on the Virginia Tech campus Monday, ABC News has learned.

The student killed two people in a dorm room, returned to his own dorm room where he re-armed and left a “disturbing note” before entering a classroom building on the other side of campus to continue his rampage, sources said.

Cho’s identitiy has been confirmed with a positive fingerprint match on the guns used in the rampage and with immigration materials. It is believed that he was the shooter in both incidents yesterday. Sources say Cho was carrying a backpack that contained receipts for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol, sources said. Witnesses had also told authorities that the shooter was carrying a backpack. Sections of chain similar to those used to lock the main doors at Norris Hall, the site of the second shooting that left 31 dead, were found inside a Virginia Tech dormitory, sources confirmed to ABC News.

Update 6: The Chicago Tribune is reporting contents of what is supposedly the note left by the killer prior to the murders (h/t Allah):

The note included a rambling list of grievances, according to sources. They said Cho also died with the words “Ismail Ax” in red ink on the inside of one of his arms.

Cho had shown recent signs of violent, aberrant behavior, according to an investigative source, including setting a fire in a dorm room and allegedly stalking some women.

A note believed to have been written by Cho was found in his dorm room that railed against “rich kids,” “debauchery” and “deceitful charlatans” on campus.

Update 7: A live video stream of the VTech convacation (which will be held at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg) will be broadcast here. The convacation starts at 2 ET, and as noted earlier, the President and First Lady will be in attendance.

Update 8: The AP reports that killer’s writings were found to be so disturbing that he had been referred to the school’s counseling services:

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The gunman suspected of carrying out the Virginia Tech massacre that left 33 people dead was identified Tuesday as a English major whose creative writing was so disturbing that he was referred to the school’s counseling service.

News reports also said that he may have been taking medication for depression, that he was becoming increasingly violent and erratic, and that he left a note in his dorm in which he railed against “rich kids,” “debauchery” and “deceitful charlatans” on campus.

[…]

Professor Carolyn Rude, chairwoman of the university’s English department, said she did not personally know the gunman. But she said she spoke with Lucinda Roy, the department’s director of creative writing, who had Cho in one of her classes and described him as “troubled.”

“There was some concern about him,” Rude said. “Sometimes, in creative writing, people reveal things and you never know if it’s creative or if they’re describing things, if they’re imagining things or just how real it might be. But we’re all alert to not ignore things like this.”

She said Cho was referred to the counseling service, but she said she did not know when, or what the outcome was. Rude refused to release any of his writings or his grades, citing privacy laws.

A lot of people are speculating that it may have been a lovers’ quarrel that started it all. My question is, with so many other buildings there, why he chose Norris Hall. I’m curious as to the significance of it, like if there were students/professors he was looking for during the rampage.

Mr. Aust, who was an engineering major, and another student who shared their suite, Karan Grewal, 21, painted a picture of a loner who ate his meals alone in the dining hall and shunned any attempts at friendship.

They never saw him with a girl or any friends for that matter.

But they thought he was just strange. Never in a million years could they imagine him to be the kind of person who would kill 32 other people in a three-hour spasm of violence.

[…]

If some of Mr. Cho’s teachers were concerned, the students who shared a suite with him were puzzled by him.

Mr. Grewal recalled how earlier in the year someone running for a student council position visited the suite to pass out candy and ask for votes. Mr. Cho would not even make eye contact with him, turning his head away and refusing to make conversation.

— ABC’s “The Blotter” has the story on the gun used in yesterday’s killings. On a related note, Stephen Spruiell catches Keith Olbermann spinning gun laws in an attempt to – what else – blame Bush for yesterday’s tragedy. Read more on that via Olbermann Watch.

Comments

While the leftists are using this tragedy to launch another assault on Americans’ Second Amendment right, here’s something you can bet you won’t see on their blogs, or on the NYT editorial pages: a year ago, a bill that would allow students to legally carry handguns on campus was defeated in the Virginia legislature.

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker was happy to hear the bill was defeated. “I’m sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly’s actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.”

Of course, if the bill had passed, perhaps a lawfully armed student might have taken out the killer and averted most of the carnage. Wonder what Mr. Hincker has to say about how safe the VT community feels today?

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday the government hoped the Virginia Tech shootings, allegedly carried out by a 23-year-old South Korean native, would not “stir up racial prejudice or confrontation.”

You have got to be frickin’ kidding me!!! This story was in Breitbart and I block quoted the 1st paragraph. What kind of insensitive individuals would be more concerned with this sort of thing than the fact that one of their own murdered Americans for no reason. And the legacy of the left continues to be seen thru out the world. Thanks guys, keep up the good work, perhaps the rest of the world will hate us, ohhh wait they already do thanks to the handy work of the left. – Lorica

Am I the only one who’d like to know how it is this Cho fellow who had (previously) set fire to a dorm room, was allowed by the VT powers that be to continue living on campus? What kind of negligent insanity is this? Send in the shysters!

The South Korean Government and their embassy here are concerned that people might retaliate against South Korean and Korean-American students at VT. I don’t know what idiots are thinking of that, but they had better not try it.

So you know, this was something like the 5th statement released by the South Korean government. All the rest were letters of condolence.

So??? How does that justify the prejudice against Americans of the 5th statement???

You’re blaming the _left_ for that now? There goes my theory that right-wingers were at least a little smarter than leftiesâ€¦

No Bruce your theory is firmly intact. I am blaming the left for the constant inflamatory remarks against the people of this country in aiding these same prejudices. When ever one of our good Dems runs their mouth overseas about how evil GW and conservatives are the people of the world pick up on it. THAT is what I am blaming the left for. Kerry, both Clintons, and several other lowlifes have all given speeches and interviews overseas that blame America for many of the worlds evil, in the hope to run Republicans out of office. The problem is most of the people in the world don’t recognize the Dem / Rep difference and lump us all in together. – Lorica